In The Trashcan Records
GARBAGE15
"Take a magic carpet to the olden
days to the mythical land where everybody lays around in the clouds in a
happy daze... That's what I was thinking after listening to these brain
damaging 45s one sunny afternoon..."
When I was a kid (which I still am), I always dreamed about flying around on a magic carpet and visiting every country on this poor planet earth. I don't know what I was thinking when I first heard this 45 from 1963, but it's a cool guitar instro anyhow.
An Italian guitar instrumental with an oriental flavour. If you ever find the time (and money) try and visit Maracaibo. The weather's fine at this time of the year. Ettore Cenci recorded in the late 50s and in the 60s. I'm not sure when this was recorded. The flip is "Una storia".
The label reads "Ali Tomawak", but it's always listed as "Ali Tomahawk". I haven't seen the 1961 King release, so maybe it should be Tomawak. Whatever, it's a great b-side of "Maharadja" which can be found on volume 14. It contains wild guitar licks and must be played between "Kana Kapila" and "Kili Watch", two great Cousins tracks with native Indian references.
A gay flute and powerful bongos mixed with strange strings and a guitar virtuoso is all you need to get excited by this 1960 mambo. Is Amalia a girl or a tropical island? Or maybe both?
I didn't know they could do the cha cha cha in China or Japan in 1959, but these guys can! It's party time; from "Chop suey rock" to "Far east cha cha" is but a small step.
Tamouré with Madeleine Moua recorded this 45 with four terrific Polynesian songs, all written by Tihoti Heva. "Papio" and "Paoa" are great, but especially "Te manu pukarua" is fabulous and that's why I picked that one for volume 19.
This is 1966 Chinatown lounge and if that label doesn't exist yet, it should! Both sides of this 45 are instrumentals; I already put the other side on volume 1.
A slow exotic tune with at least a dozen different exotic percussion instruments and with a leading sax. "Dongo" is the A-side, but it's this side that could amaze me. Dim the lights, prepare yourself a daiquiri and lay down on your bamboo couch and float away on that river with Martha...
A Moonglow Records subsidiary and thus there's a Belgian link to this American 45. I will always link Homer Dennison to his super crazy song "Chickie run" which I heard for the first time on the "Psycho serenade" compilation from the Wavy Gravy series. Hot oriental tunes for bedtime stories...
...and downstream you might meet the Tattoo Man. This is typical mid-60s pop with a fuzzy guitar and a Sonics-like sax. Then a tattooed person was something special, certainly for a small town, but nowadays you're very special if you never had a tattoo or a piercing. It's from 1966.
Do you know the Las Vegas Grind track "Kaput"? This is the b-side. It was released in Belgium on the Fast label in the early 60s. It sounds like a freaky Louis Prima who complains about civilization and who wants to stay far away from it.
The world's most unique flutist Esy Morales and his Latin-American Orchestra turn this song into a genuine "Jungle fantasy". The piano tries to break the rhythm of the percussionists. It's like you're in a canoe on a fast but calm river and you see all the beauty of the Amazon trees and birds and you wish that it would never disappear. What a fantasy.
Organ, bongos and a wonderful backing band conducted by Dick Hyman. Even the sax doesn't sound cheesy. It's inviting you to spend your summer holiday at the banks of the Congo. Back then in 1956 Congo was still owned by the Belgian crown.
I couldn't help but put this b-side of "Far east cha cha" on this volume as well. It's a fine 1959 instrumental and may not be forgotten in the trashcan.
This is a reissue 45, but I can't find the artist. I used to have both sides on a cassette, but that's years and years ago. So sorry, but I'm sure you're gonna like this one: an oriental girl called Yoshiko seducing you to speak Japanese. The one who reissued this 45 doesn't know any geography. Yang-Tse is a river in China. More at the end of this volume.
And we're still in Japan with another oriental cha cha. "Geisha cha cha" and also "Yoshiko" would have been perfect on the two volumes of "Chop Suey Rock" on Hot&Sour Records. Maybe there will be a third volume one day. For more exotica tunes, go to volume 30.
